


Fate Unbound

by Kookykrumbs



Series: Fate Binds Us - Missing Scenes [9]
Category: Terminator (Movies), Terminator - All Media Types, Terminator Dark Fate, Terminator: Dark Fate
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, F/F, Time Travel, finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:14:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23011576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kookykrumbs/pseuds/Kookykrumbs
Summary: The moment Dani had spent half her life trying to prevent had arrived.  Grace was going back in time to try to save her.  She was in fate's endless prison and had no choice but to endure the agony of losing the woman she loved again.  But little did Dani know that this time, fate might be smiling down on her.  FINALE to my Fate Binds Us series.
Relationships: Grace Harper & Dani Ramos, Grace Harper/Dani Ramos
Series: Fate Binds Us - Missing Scenes [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1608526
Comments: 27
Kudos: 91





	Fate Unbound

**Author’s Notes:** We’ve reached the end, folks. This is my ninth and final instalment to my Fate Binds Us – Missing Scenes series. The fic below takes place immediately (like the very second) after the last instalment, [Dwell In Possibility](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22876357). A huge thank you to everyone who’s read every single story in this universe I’ve created; it’s meant so much to me. Thank you for all the kind words. I hope you enjoy this last one.

****

** Fate Unbound **

Grace stood there - stunned speechless. Colonel Carter had just finished telling her what their mission in Salt Lake City had truly been about. Dani had lied to her… or at least lied by omission. And now, if Col. Carter was to be believed – and there was no reason not to – then Dani could fade from existence at any moment. Grace, if she would even still be alive, would never know Dani even existed. How could Dani keep this from her?

“Grace, are you alright?” Col. Carter asked.

“No… no, I’m not…” Grace struggled to say as she fought a wave of nausea.

“I know it’s a lot to take in but-”

“Colonel, please… tell me what to do… tell me how to fix this!”

“That’s exactly why I told you, Grace. You see, we have a small but distinct window of opportunity to latch on to the residual vortex of the time jump. Once that passes, we’ll never be able to follow. Our scientists have studied the machine. It’s one use only per time signature. It’s an incredibly complex piece of technology. It could take months if not a couple of years before we could reverse engineer it. Even then, we would still need to find a way to generate enough power as well as find all the necessary metals to construct a replica.”

“Then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go! We need to round up our best soldiers and protect Dani in the past.”

“We can only send one, I’m afraid.”

Grace hadn’t expected that. “Oh… I see…”

“I don’t think you do. You see, the machine works in such a way that it can only safely send organic material back in the past. Everything else would disintegrate. The person who gets sent back won’t even be able to be sent back with clothes, let alone weapons.”

“Would my augmentation cause a problem?” Grace asked.

“No, they won’t, as long as you don’t have any open wounds that would expose the metal beneath your flesh to the energy that will be released when the particles collide to create the time warp.”

“You said you told Dani about this. What was her plan in stopping it?” Grace asked.

“I believe she intends to send Major Jacobsen to protect her.”

Grace pinched the bridge of her nose, took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She had to remind herself it would be completely unbecoming of her to lose her cool in front of a senior officer. “I see…”

“If it were up to me, I’d send you,” Col. Carter said.

“You would?” Grace said, a little surprised considering Major Jacobsen was considered by most as the best soldier in the resistance.

“I know what you’re thinking. And yes, Major Jacobsen is considered the most qualified on paper. But he doesn’t love the commander like you do.”

Grace felt herself blush at the allusion to her relationship with Dani. “If I go back…. Since there are no time machines in the past, I wouldn’t be able to come back here once this is all over, would I?”

“It’s a one-way trip,” Col. Carter said, solemnly. “And even if there was a time machine in the past, we’re not entirely sure what future you would return to. We still don’t know how changing the past would affect our reality.”

If she were to go back to the past, she would never see Dani again… at least, not the Dani she knew. The realization hit her like a sucker punch to the gut. She found herself struggling to breathe. The enormity of the situation really beginning to sink in. 

“Grace, I know how incredibly difficult this is for you. But we don’t have a lot of time…. What will you do?” Col. Carter asked.

“I need to find Dani.”

Grace left Col. Carter before even being dismissed. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that was incredibly rude, if not borderline insubordination. But she knew the colonel wouldn’t hold it against her. Grace practically ran through the hallways of the base checking every room, office and hall for Dani. She couldn’t even say for sure how she felt at the moment. She felt overwhelmed with fear. She instinctively tried to use her anger as a safety net. There was no question that Dani hid this from her intentionally. 

After searching an entire wing of the base including the gym, she decided to head to the med bay. Dani was known to help out there whenever a squad returned from a mission. Sure enough, as she got closer, she could hear Dani’s voice speaking to an injured soldier.

“You’re lucky all you got from that was a broken arm, Private Johal.”

“Yes, ma’am. I know,” the young man before Dani answered. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Dani sighed. “What you did was heroic, but foolish. You’ll have a lot to answer for with your commanding officer once I’m finished setting your arm.”

“Yes, ma’am. I take full responsibility.”

Grace could see Dani’s eyes soften at the young private in front of her. No doubt Dani probably saw a bit of young Grace in the young man. On any other day, Grace would’ve waited to see what Dani would say in response. But today was like no other. Grace swallowed hard and tried to rein in her emotions.

“Commander, a word, please,” Grace said, trying her best to keep her voice neutral.

Several people in the med bay looked up but quickly went back to work when they ascertained who it was. Dani on the other hand, just looked her in the eyes. Grace had no doubt that Dani knew that she knew… and that she was fuming.

“Of course,” Dani said, a hint of weariness in her voice.

Dani got up and led the way, Grace just a step behind. The two of them walked in silence. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Grace still didn’t trust herself to speak just yet. She wondered what was going through Dani’s mind. A part of her felt guilty at being angry with her. After all, no one’s ever been in Dani’s predicament at the moment. But at the same time, she expected complete honesty from Dani, especially when it involved her safety and well-being.

After finally reaching their quarters, Grace walked inside first. She waited until Dani shut the door behind them. At that point, Grace couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“How could you not tell me?!” Grace blurted out.

“Tell you what?” Dani asked, innocently.

Oh, no, she didn’t! Did Dani just try to pull off the dumb approach? Grace didn’t know whether to laugh or be even angrier. This dumb tactic was something she perfected as a teenager. More than that, she hadn’t tried it in at least a decade. This was beneath Dani.

“Oh, don’t you play that game with me, Dani, I taught it to you!” Grace said, putting her hands on her hips.

Dani sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Good! Grace found some satisfaction that Dani realized her little stall tactic wouldn’t work.

“What did you hear, Grace?” Dani said, resignedly.

“Is it true that Legion sent a Rev-9 to Mexico City in 2020 to assassinate you?” Grace said, getting to the point.

“Yes.”

“How could you not trust me with this?” Grace asked, her heart splintered into a million pieces.

“This has nothing to do with trust,” Dani said, taking Grace’s face in her hands, forcing her to meet her eyes.

Still bitterly hurt, Grace pulled away. “It has everything to do with it! Do you have any idea how it felt for me to find out that you’d given orders to send Jacobsen to the past to protect you?!”

“Lucas has proven himself time and time again. He’s more than capable of protecting me in the past. He’s smart, resourceful and incredibly resilient. The fact that he survived the augmentation procedure is a testament to that,” Dani said.

“I am every bit as smart, resourceful and resilient as he is, Dani! And you know it! My augmentation has made me every bit as fast and as strong as he is.” 

“I’m not disputing that,” Dani said, weakly, trying to reach for Grace’s hand. But Grace pulled away not having forgiven her just yet.

It was like Dani had forgotten all the times Grace had saved her or kept her alive over the past few years. The most prominent incident was when they got shot down over Calgary, Alberta and Grace singlehandedly carried an injured Dani for miles in the middle of an unforgiving Canadian winter. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for Dani. Hadn’t she proven herself?

“Then you don’t trust me,” Grace said.

Dani shook her head vehemently. Grace wished she knew what was going on in her head. Dani had this panicked look in her face that she couldn’t understand. Dani didn’t speak for a few moments, seemingly trying to gather herself. 

“There’s no one on this hellish earth I trust more than you. You can choose to believe that or not, I can’t control that. I have my reasons for sending Lucas Jacobsen to the past. And the biggest of those reasons, if you must know, is that I will not risk losing you, Grace,” Dani said, a grief-stricken look on her face.

Deep down Grace knew that was true. If their roles had been reversed, she probably would have made the same call. But it still stung that Dani went out of her way to keep Grace in the dark.

“Fine, I can understand that. But how could you not even tell me this was going on?”

“Because I didn’t want you to worry about it. You’re always worrying about me. It’s supposed to be the other way around.”

“We protect each other, Dani.”

“We’ll continue to do that. But with you here, by my side.”

It was so tempting to just trust Major Jacobsen and for Grace to spend the rest of her life with Dani. There was nothing she wanted more. Just the thought of leaving Dani behind was enough to make Grace feel ill. But the stakes were so high, not just for Grace personally, but for the whole world. And when it all came down to it, there was no one Grace trusted more with Dani’s life than herself.

“I’m sorry, Dani. But I can’t let Jacobsen go. I’m going to the past, and I will make sure that the terminator does not succeed in killing you,” Grace said, her voice brooking no room for argument.

“I am still your commander, Grace. And I’m not allowing it.”

Grace refused to lose this battle to Dani. Not this one. “I’m not giving you a choice, _Commander_.”

Dani gave Grace the angriest look she’d ever seen before.

“Why, Grace?! Why can’t you let this go? You know how time-travel works. It is a one-way ticket. If you do this, I’ll never see you again.”

The heartbreak in Dani’s eyes was almost more than she could bear. But Grace had to hold her resolve. Her life, the very world, depended on it.

“Do you think this is easy for me? But I don’t trust Jacobsen not to fail. I don’t trust anyone!”

“Why?!”

“Because no one else loves you like I do. I have no doubt that Jacobsen would do his best to keep you alive. But it’s still just a mission to him. This is personal to me. And failure is not an option.” 

“How can you guarantee that, Grace?”

“Because I can’t live in a world without you in it.” What kind of life would Grace have with no meaning? Because without Dani, she would lose all hope. And a life without hope wasn’t a life at all.

“So, you would sentence me to the very fate you’re trying to avoid?” Dani asked, complete resignation in her voice.

“I’m ensuring you have a future,” Grace said, simply.

“Do you know what it would do to me to lose you, Grace?”

“Yes,” Grace whispered.

She found herself turning away. The tears pooling in Dani’s eyes was agonizing for her to see.

“And yet, you still insist on this?”

With her back still turned away, Grace answered, “From the moment you found me, you’ve been my whole world, Dani. If Jacobsen fails, then I wouldn’t even remember ever knowing you. You would slip from my memories, like a long-ago faded dream. And I don’t even want to imagine a world where we didn’t find each other.”

There was a moment of silence. Grace wasn’t sure what Dani was thinking. She remained turned away, fighting the lump in her throat. She refused to let her tears fall. It would do no good to make things any more difficult than it needed to be. Grace felt Dani’s hand on her arm, urging her to turn around. The next moment Dani was in her arms, holding her like her life depended on it.

“I love you, Grace. Never forget that.”

Grace couldn’t even bring herself to respond. She could barely even swallow past the lump in her throat. She didn’t remember who kissed whom. It didn’t really matter. What mattered was that they expressed in that one soul-searing kiss a thousand words they had no time for. This moment with Dani would forever be burned in her memory. 

After several moments of just holding each other, Dani broke the silence. “Well, soldier, I see there’s no changing your mind.”

Typical Dani, shoving her heartbreak aside and relying on her lifeline; her commander persona. “Come on, I have some coordinates I’ll need to tattoo on you,” Dani said.

“Or, you can just tell them to me. You know I can remember shit, right?” Grace said, relying on her inner brattiness to keep her tears at bay. 

“Considering I just lost the bigger argument, you’re going to let me have this one, Grace.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Grace said, not daring to argue.

Dani smiled sadly. “Come on, Grace, we don’t have much time. I’ll brief Jacobsen on the change of plans. I also want to get you a map of Mexico City so you can familiarize yourself with it.”

“Don’t even think of tattooing a map of Mexico City on me,” Grace said, half scared that Dani might just do that.

“I’ll tattoo it on your ass,” Dani said, sardonically. “Also, I’m going to speak to Dr. Farraday and ask him if it would be possible to send you back a little earlier than the Rev-9. We’ll be locking on to the residual vortex that the Rev-9 used to travel back in time, however, I understand that it’s possible to extend the temporal distortion ever so slightly so that we could send you a few days before the Rev-9 arrives. Oh, and I just remembered, I’ll need to figure out locations of where you can get your medication around the city. And I need to show you on the map where I used to work. And I’ll need to-”

“Dani, you’re rambling,” Grace interrupted, wanting Dani to take a breath. “You only do that when you’re nervous. Please, stop worrying. I won’t fail.”

“That’s exactly why I’m worried,” Dani said, solemnly. 

Grace wasn’t quite sure what to make of that.

**12 hours later**

Dani and Grace sat in the back of a chopper being flown over Aspen on their way to Salt Lake City. Behind them were eight choppers and two dragonflies as their escorts. Dani didn’t take any chances with this short but vital trip. 

They’d spent their last few hours alone making love, trying to keep the hands of time at bay. Dani tried to sear every moment in her memories. She needed to remember every touch, every sigh, and every cry of bliss of the woman she loved. When they were finally spent, Dani watched Grace as she fell asleep. The vision of Grace’s lovely face would be forever etched in her heart. Her disheveled blonde hair, her long lashes resting gently on her pale cheeks, her lips that kissed her a thousand times…. She could’ve been blessed with a thousand lifetimes with Grace, and it wouldn’t be enough.

Leaving their quarters together to head for the tarmac was one of the hardest things Dani had ever had to endure. She tried not to think about the fact that she would never again see Grace in their quarters. She would never get to just cuddle with her on the couch listening to her read ever again. They would never do chores side by side ever again. There would be no more game nights, or intimate celebrations of birthdays together. There would no longer be any late-night chats talking about everything and nothing at all. She would never get to wake up next to her ever again… never make love again.

This must be how inmates on death row felt. Just waiting for their lives to end – dreading it. And for Dani, that’s exactly what it was. Because the moment Grace disappeared from this realm of existence, her life was no longer worth living. Dani looked to her left where Grace seemed to be deep in thought. She tried again to memorize every feature of her beautiful face in her mind’s eye. The thought struck a memory in her. Sarah once mentioned how she no longer could even remember her son’s face so long after he was killed. Would it be the same for Dani? 

“Hey Grace, there’s someone you might meet in the past…” Dani started.

“Oh?”

“Do you remember the woman I told you stories about? My abuelita?”

“Sarah Connor, right?” Grace said, nodding.

“That’s right. Look, I need you to know something about her.”

“What is it?” Grace asked, probably wondering why there was such hesitation in Dani.

“Well, she’s a strong personality…” Dani struggled with the right words to say.

Grace laughed. “Of course, she was. Considering she taught you everything you know, I’m not surprised.”

“Well, I may have colored your perception about her over the years.”

“What do you mean? She’s not the sweet old woman who took you under her wing?”

“Now, I never said she was sweet…”

“Well… I guess… it’s just that you always speak of her with such fondness. I just assumed…. Anyway, what is it you’re trying to tell me?”

“Well… She can be difficult. She may be old…er… older, but she’s sharp as a tack. Nothing gets by her, and well… I’m just saying…”

“What is it?” Grace asked, waiting patiently.

“She will get on your last nerves, I have no doubt. But she was my friend, my teacher, a mother in some ways. Please, as much as you want to probably kill her, don’t. Trust her. For me, Grace. _For me_.”

Grace looked at her weirdly. “Of course. Look, Dani, stop being so nervous. Besides, what makes you think I’d even meet her? I mean, how did _you_ meet her anyway?”

Dani wasn’t prepared to answer that question. She tried to be as vague as possible. “One day, my friend and I… uhhh… needed a ride. She stopped and helped.”

Grace just shrugged. “I’m more interested in these coordinates you tattooed on my abs. Who will I find there?”

“Look, Sarah will have received texts from him. If you do come across her, check her texts that end in _For John_. You’ll know what to do,” Dani said.

“Okay….” Grace said, hesitantly. “Hey Dani?”

“Yeah?”

“Why are you being so cryptic?” Grace asked.

“I’m just worried I might not be remembering this right. I’m just giving you information I’m absolutely sure about.”

“Have you met this guy at these coordinates?” Grace asked.

“Sarah and I met him.” _With you_. 

“How?” Grace asked.

Grace’s prodding was giving Dani a headache. “He had a past with Sarah.”

“Oh, but then-”

“Look, Grace… we only have a few hours left. Let’s not spend it trying to dig through this old head of mine for memories better left behind.”

“Sorry,” Grace said, looking contrite.

“Just hold me,” Dani said.

Grace looked a little nervous as they were in the line of sight of the chopper’s pilot. She and Dani had never shown any affection for each other in the presence of others. Dani knew exactly what she was thinking.

“Umm… are you sure?” Grace whispered.

Dani sighed. “What does it matter now, Grace?”

Grace smiled, seeming to agree. She took Dani in her arms and the two of them held each other in silence for the last hour of their trip. Dani said a silent prayer that she would find the courage to let Grace go when that fateful hour arrived.

**An hour later**

Col. Carter and Dr. Farraday, both having arrived at the recently liberated former Legion base a couple of hours ahead of Dani and Grace, greeted them on the tarmac upon their arrival. They had given the signal that the base was fully secured and that there was no indication that Legion would try to retake it. And why would they? They had sent their assassin back in time to kill Dani. All they had to do was sit back and wait.

“Glad you all made it here safely,” Col. Carter yelled over the whirring of the chopper’s blades.

“Is everything ready?” Dani yelled back.

“Everything is set, but we have to move fast,” Dr. Farraday said. “My calculations say we have less than twenty-four hours before we can no longer lock onto the residual vortex. But if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not wait until the last minute.”

Easy for him to say, Dani mused. “And you’re sure there’s enough energy that we can still draw from to power the machine one more time?”

“Because we’re not generating a new vortex, but merely latching onto an existing one, we won’t need nearly the same amount of energy. So, yes, power will not be a problem,” Dr. Farraday answered.

The four of them headed to the chamber that housed the time machine. When they got there, there were several men and women, presumably Dr. Farraday’s team, measuring readings and checking various connections on the machine. Dani was surprised to see that the machine was mostly just a circular platform. 

“Dr. Farraday, the readings on the residual vortex are getting weaker,” a young gentleman in a lab coat said, “I strongly suggest we send Captain Harper through now.”

Those words were like a death knell to Dani. But she was still the commander, she forced herself not to react. She turned to Grace, trying to gauge her thoughts. But Grace, likewise, kept a neutral face.

“Captain, if you would please follow me into that room over there,” Dr. Farraday said, taking Grace by the elbow. “I’ll need to explain a few things to you, and you’ll need to divest yourself of your clothing, I’m afraid.”

Grace looked at Dani, as if asking for permission. Dani just nodded, and Grace followed the doctor to the next room. Dani felt a hand on her shoulder.

“How are you holding up?” Col. Carter asked.

“Fine. Just taking it one second at a time… One breath at a time.”

“You’ll make it through this, Dani.”

“I know…. I just don’t want to.”

It seemed her friend didn’t know what to say in response, and so, she said nothing. That was fine with Dani. Besides, they both knew there were no words that could be said that would put Dani back together again. Only a miracle could do that. And Dani’s long since stopped believing in them.

After several minutes, Dr. Farraday came back in the room. He gave orders to his staff to leave the premises and that he would take it from there. Dani was grateful for that small gesture. She wanted to spare Grace the indignity of having strangers see her completely naked and vulnerable. 

As the last of Dr. Farraday’s staff stepped out of the room, the door to the adjacent room opened and out stepped Grace. Dani met her eyes and saw the heartbreak there mirroring her own. The time had come.

Dr. Farraday cleared his throat. “We’ll uhhh, give you two a moment,” he said, ushering Col. Carter out with him.

“It’s a good thing you were from Mexico, can you imagine if you came from Siberia or something?” Grace said, jokingly referring to her naked state.

“I’m sure you’ll give some poor soul the fright of their life dropping in naked on them,” Dani said, forcing a wry smile.

Grace sighed. “I guess this is it…”

“Grace… the me you’ll meet, she’s nothing like I am now. Don’t tell her anything about the future, she won’t be able to handle it. More than that, we don’t know what it would do to the future if she knew too much of it.”

Grace nodded. “Okay.”

“Really, Grace…. My younger self, she can’t even drive. You’ll have your work cut out for you.”

Grace smiled sadly. “Don’t I always with you?”

Dani smiled through her tears. Until this moment she always wondered how people could die of so-called broken hearts. But she understood now, standing before the one person in the world she loved above all others. The person she would never see again. Ever. A part of her marveled at how her legs didn’t buckle under the weight of her grief. 

“Grace…” Dani said, through the lump in her throat.

“Yes?”

_Don’t be a hero._ But that was a pointless thing to say. 

“Every day with you was a gift. I can’t even say that I wish I didn’t take our time together for granted because I never did. I treasured each moment with you. As long as I hang on to those, a part of you will always be with me.”

Grace nodded, tears welling in her bright blue eyes. “I love you, Dani. Know that everything I do, I do for you.”

“Me too,” Dani whispered.

“I swear, Dani…. I will save you. Even if it takes my last breath, the last beat of my heart…. _I will save you._ ”

“ _I know._ ”

Dani stood on her toes, wrapped her arms around Grace’s neck and whispered in her ear, “I love you, Grace… I always will.”

“Ahem,” Dr. Farraday cleared his throat. The doctor had an apologetic look in his eyes. “Captain, we need to send you back now.”

Grace just nodded. She bent down and whispered to Dani, “You have to let me go now.”

Dani reluctantly let go, a gentle arm, Col. Carter’s pulled her away from Grace.

“It was an honor and a privilege, Captain,” Col. Carter said.

“Likewise,” Grace nodded. “Thank you… for everything.”

Grace was led onto the platform by Dr. Farraday. A part of Dani couldn’t bear to look, but Grace was making the ultimate sacrifice for her, the least she could do was see it through to the end. Grace quickly took her position in the middle of the platform, as if afraid her resolve might waver. Dr. Farraday ran to the controls. He started pressing a series of buttons. In a matter of seconds, the whole base began to shake. The floor jerked beneath their feet. The lights began to flicker. A globe that appeared to look like some kind of electromagnetic energy surrounded Grace. The light became brighter and brighter.

“God speed, my friend,” Col. Carter whispered.

Suddenly a feeling of panic overtook Dani. She could barely breathe. Dear Lord, what had she done? She was losing the woman she loved.

“No!” Dani screamed. 

“Commander?” Dr. Farraday asked in confusion.

“I shouldn’t have let her go,” Dani whispered. “Stop the machine!”

“I can’t, it’s too late!” the doctor yelled.

Dani ran towards the machine.

“Dani!” Col. Carter screamed.

Dani reached her hand out towards Grace. But instead of touching Grace, her hand made contact with the magnetic shield. A booming sound cracked the air. In the blink of an eye, Dani was thrown across the room smashing into the farthest wall. She felt an intense burning and piercing sensation all over her body. Her body jerked involuntarily for several moments. Then darkness.

**~~~~~~~~~~**

Dani stirred, feeling the first signs of wakefulness. She couldn’t bring herself to open her eyes. What was there to see anyway? Grace was gone. She didn’t want to get up, what was there to live for anyway? Grace was gone. Dani pulled her pillow tighter over her head, trying to keep the world at bay. She felt so exhausted, so tired, so weary….. but she wasn’t in pain. 

She focused on her body trying to feel the pain she was expecting. She remembered she had tried stopping the machine from sending Grace back, but the magnetic field practically combusted when she touched it. She should have broken half the bones in her body. How was she still able to move? Her thoughts were interrupted by a sound coming from somewhere.

It was the sound of someone speaking enthusiastically, one she didn’t recognize. It sounded like an ad for Coca-Cola? What the hell? An advertisement? Was that a television she heard in the next room? Dani felt a terrible headache forming behind her eyes. She bravely opened one eye, then the next. She looked around and didn’t immediately recognize where she was. It certainly wasn’t the spartan room of her quarters. Where was she?

Dani shot up like a coiled spring that was suddenly released. She felt a little disoriented and tried focusing her bleary eyes. She looked down and realized she was on a bed… a rather large bed. The room she was in was like none she’d seen since Judgment Day. It had large windows with beautiful beige pleated curtains. The room had beautiful decorative mouldings all around. There was a lovely oak dresser to her right and a matching nightstand to her left. 

She had to be dreaming. Dani closed her eyes again. That’s it, she’d lost her mind. The loss of Grace must have been too much for her and she cracked. She was probably locked away somewhere in her insane mind. Was this a safe space she’d created for herself? Dani heard footsteps, then she heard the door open.

“Hey, sleepy head. I thought you’d never wake up. God, I must’ve really worn you out last night.” That voice. It couldn’t be. She looked up.

“Grace?” Dani whispered, beyond shocked.

“Who were you expecting? Sarah? Granted, she was ready to come in here and whack you with her cane if you didn’t get up soon,” Grace said, laughing. “It’s almost noon.”

Grace stood before her smiling and wearing a tightfitting pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. “No… no… you’re not real.” Dani found herself hyperventilating. That wasn’t Grace. Her mind was making this whole thing up.

“Dani?”

“No! No, no, no… This isn’t real. I’m hallucinating,” Dani said.

“Okay, Dani… you’re scaring me, slow down,” Grace said, approaching her.

“Get away from me!” Dani jumped out of the bed and dashed past the imposter before her and out the door.

Dani could hear Grace calling for her… but it wasn’t really Grace. She ran through the house and stumbled into the kitchen. An old woman sat at the table. Those eyes… she knew them.

“No need to run, kid. I didn’t eat all the food.”

“Sa… Sarah?” Dani stuttered. Why would her mind conjure up an octogenarian Sarah?

“Now, don’t get me wrong, I would have, but Grace wouldn’t let me,” Sarah said, chuckling. “Guarded me like I had the Hope Diamond, and not a bunch of pancakes.”

What the fuck?! Dani ran out of the kitchen and smashed right into Grace. 

“Dani?! What is the matter?” Grace asked.

“Don’t touch me! Stay back!” Maybe Dani had been taken by Legion. Maybe she was in some kind of simulated reality. Maybe they were trying to crack her mind to find key locations and security codes of the resistance.

“Dani, what’s going on?” Sarah asked.

Dani saw the door that led outside and ran right out. She was in a neighborhood of some kind. There were trees and people walking outside. There was a corner store to her left and a playground to her right. Dani took another step forward when a car almost swiped her, she stumbled back and saw bright headlights heading right for her. She found herself frozen to the spot in fright when strong arms encircled her waste and pulled her back just as the car drove past where she’d been standing.

“Hey, lady?! Are you crazy?!” the angry driver yelled.

Dani just watched the car speed away, stunned silent.

“Dani, what the hell is going on?! Please, talk to me, you’re scaring me,” Grace said shaking her.

Before Dani could answer, a pain unlike anything she’d ever felt before overtook her whole body. She cried in agony and fell to her knees, clutching her head. She squeezed her eyes shut, focusing on nothing but trying to breathe past the pain. Then, just as suddenly, the pain was gone, then it was like a dam burst in her mind. A flood of memories washed over her.

There were memories of her younger self befriending Grace who was pretending to be a security guard. The Rev-9 finding her at Restaurante Nicos, her brother getting killed. Sarah saving them on that overpass. Dani getting stabbed. Grace telling her she was her commander all along. Them meeting Carl, Carl giving up his life to destroy the Rev-9. She, Sarah and Grace stopping Judgment Day from happening….

But those memories in her were fighting for dominance against another set of memories. One in which Grace died in her arms. Of her finding a fifteen-year-old Grace in the ruins after Judgment Day. Dani being the commander of the world’s largest resistance force. Dani and Grace trekking through a Canadian winter after their chopper was shot down by an HK. Dani’s devastation of learning Grace had volunteered to become an augment. Finally, Dani trying to stop Grace from going back to the past. 

“That’s it, Dani! I’m taking you to the hospital,” Grace said, barging in on Dani’s thoughts.

“No… I’m okay… I think,” Dani said, slowly getting up from her knees from the pavement.

“Oh, you’re going! You wake up, freak out, run outside, nearly get yourself killed, you fall to the ground in pain, and you expect me to believe you’re okay?!” Grace said. Ironically, she was the one sounding like she wasn’t okay.

Dani, now remembering everything, just smiled. She brushed some of the hair that fell over Grace’s eye during her tirade. 

“You have laugh lines now, mi amor,” Dani said.

“Huh?”

“But you’re still beautiful, you’ve barely aged,” Dani said, tracing her finger along Grace’s cheek. “Must be the nanotech in you…”

“Dani, you better have an explanation for all this, or I’m taking you to the hospital right now,” Grace said.

“Hey!” Dani looked past Grace to see Sarah limping on her cane towards them. “What the hell is going on around here? You know I can’t move as fast as I used to.”

Dani stepped away from Grace and embraced Sarah, her beloved abuelita. “I didn’t mean to run out on you…. I just woke up a bit confused that’s all.”

Sarah scoffed. “With all the noise you two were making last night, not surprised at all.”

Dani blushed, a somewhat faded memory of the night before replayed in her mind. She pushed the rather x-rated memory aside for later. “Actually, Sarah, perhaps I should explain a few things… to you and Grace. Let’s sit over there,” Dani said, pointing to an empty bench.

The three of them sat down and Dani proceeded to tell Grace and Sarah everything she remembered. She told them how her Grace had died in her arms in her version of 2020. How she’d spent the next twenty-two years trying to prevent that fate from befalling this Grace. She told them how she and Grace finally declared their love after an enormous misunderstanding. And she told them how she thought she’d lost to fate again when she was forced to send Grace back to the past.

“How could you possibly know all that?” Grace asked, tears welling in her eyes. 

“I’m not entirely sure… but I remember two sets of lives… like two dreams overlapping.” Dani turned to Grace. “I remembered you dying in my arms in 2020, but I also remember a different 2020 where you survived. I remember two pasts in which Judgment Day did and didn’t happen. It’s like I’ve lived two separate lives simultaneously…. Hell, I remember the three of us eating pizza last night over a game of Monopoly! But at the same time, it also feels like the last thing I did was watch Grace get sent back in that time machine in 2042.”

“But it is 2042, Dani… You’re saying you have memories of the 2042 I came from…. How is that even possible? I’m the only person alive who should have memories of that time,” Grace said.

“I have a suspicion,” Dani said. “When Dr. Farraday switched on the machine to send you back to the past, I had this… I don’t know… panic attack. It’s like at that moment it truly hit home to me that I was losing you forever. I tried to get him to turn the machine off. But it was too late. And in my grief, I didn’t think, I ran to the machine and I touched the energy field surrounding you… and, I don’t know…”

“You touching that energy field might have, for a fraction of a micro-second, taken your consciousness on another plane which preserved your memory of a future that never happened,” Sarah said, looking deep in thought. “How remarkable.”

“I think you might be right, Sarah,” Dani said. “And because Grace was successful in changing the past, I ended up with both sets of memories from two timelines intact. Perhaps merging my consciousness from the two timelines was the universe’s way of correcting the paradox Grace started when she went back in time. The only thing I don’t understand is… why am I just remembering this now?”

“I don’t think there’s a way for us to ever truly know. Perhaps it had to come full circle back to 2042 when Grace originally left to come save you,” Sarah suggested.

Dani shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t really matter.”

“Hey, you okay, Grace?” Sarah asked.

Dani saw that Grace’s eyes were welling with tears. “I’m better than okay,” Grace answered. “Dani, these last twenty-two years with you have been a dream. I’ve loved and treasured every moment…. But there was always a piece of me that never stopped grieving for the you I left behind. For the sake of my sanity, I held on to the belief that changing the past made it so that the you I left behind would no longer have to exist to miss me…”

“Oh, Grace,” Dani said.

“You have no idea the crushing weight that’s been lifted off my heart to know that you were with me all along,” Grace said, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks.

“And you’ll never know what it’s like to wake up and realize that miracles do happen,” Dani said, embracing Grace. “I’m here…. I always have been… and I always will be.”

“Okay stop that now,” Sarah said, drolly. “Let’s go back to the house. I’m gonna miss reruns of the Golden Girls.”

“And Sarah,” Dani said, putting her hand over hers to stop her from getting up. “You’ll never know what it’s like to wake up one day and see the miracle of your dearest friend being alive once again.”

“I liked you better last night when you were trash-talking me for beating you at Monopoly.”

Grace and Dani laughed and followed their dear friend back to their house.

**Later that night**

“Hey, you’ve been at that for hours, come to bed,” Grace said, nuzzling Dani’s neck from behind.

“I’m almost done,” Dani said, turning around and kissing Grace tenderly on the lips.

“What are you doing anyway?” Grace asked.

“I was wondering….I mean… I was trying to see what happened to Amanda Carter. I’ve been browsing various social media sites. She was probably the closest friend I had outside of you and Sarah. Since we averted Judgment Day in this timeline, she never ended up meeting us,” Dani said, unable to hide the sadness in her voice.

“And you just want to make sure she’s alright,” Grace said, knowing her very well.

“Something like that.”  
  


“You know… she’s the one who told me about the Rev-9… about your plans to send Jacobsen instead of me to the past.”

“I know… I mean, I suspected.”

“I’m glad you’re not angry at her.”

“She did the right thing. She made the tough decision when I couldn’t find the courage…. In some ways, it’s because of her that we’re together now.”

“Were you able to find anything?”

“As a matter of fact, I have. Here she is,” Dani said, turning her computer screen towards Grace. “Happily married with two young adult sons.”

Grace looked at the image in front of her. “She looks really happy.”

“When Judgment Day happened, she lost her whole family. And as sad as I am that she doesn’t know me anymore, I’m so happy for her… I’m so very happy for her.”

“Me too…. She’ll never know the debt of gratitude she holds from me,” Grace said.

Dani sighed contentedly. “Come on, let’s go to bed.”

Dani climbed in first. Grace spooned her from behind, holding her tightly against her. She thought back to everything she and Grace had been through. They both had lived two incredible lifetimes, and one of which only the two of them ever knew happened. Their relationship was forged in the fires of hell, and they came out stronger. Their bond was unbreakable. They had saved each other in this lifetime and the last. Dani fell asleep in Grace’s arms knowing that whatever trials and tribulations the future held for them, they would overcome it together.

**Author’s Notes:** I don’t need anyone telling me that what happened in my fic is impossible LOL. I know that. Based on what little science there is out there on time-travel, one can never actually change the timeline from which they came. Theoretically, if traveling to the past were possible, then that would just create an alternate timeline that would diverge from the original one. It’s the only way to reconcile concepts of the grandfather paradox. That being said, I was determined to give Dani and Grace a happy ending come hell or high water. So, I hope you were all able to suspend reality and enjoy my fic. If you guys have any ideas you want to throw my way, please feel free to e-mail me at kooky.krumbs@yahoo.com 


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